MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

9/30 Rusin finishes long year

Rookie Chris Rusin gave the Cubs something to think about this offseason when they consider their 2013 rotation. The lefty picked up the win in his final start of the season on Sunday, giving up one earned run on three hits over five innings. He spent the majority of the season at Triple-A, and finished with 173 innings combined, 34 more than he totaled in 2011. He’s learned a lot.

“It’s tough because everything is thrown at you,” Rusin said of his first big league stint. “You really want to do well because you feel this is your only opportunity to make a good first impression. I try not to worry about that. Today was my last outing, and I wanted to give it my all and whatever happened happened, and just have a good time out there.”

After a shaky first, Rusin settled down and gave up one hit over the next four innings. He struck out four.

“I thought I did a better job than last time, keeping the ball down,” Rusin said. “I was a little wild in the first inning and was able to find it between innings. As the innings went on, I found my location better and better.”

Said Dale Sveum: “Rusin did a nice job. He came back after a little hiccup and made some quality pitches to get the hitters out, too.”

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